Contemporary Art & Archaeology: Yannis Papayannis – The Queen of the Night

|’n Art| puts in the spotlight three works of its collection by Yannis Papayannis from the series The Queen of the Night in which he redefines the thrilling figure of the emblematic Babylonian goddess depicted on a staggeringly rare ancient Mesopotamian panel, displayed in the British Museum in London ➞ known as the Burney Relief or the Queen of the Night Relief (between 1800-1750 BCE / Old-Babylonian period).

Through explosive gesturalism, Yannis Papayannis draws all eyes to the stupendous mysterious beauty of the goddess whom you can encounter by visiting digitally or physically the BM’s Ancient Near East Department.

Through energetic brushstrokes he recreates an impressive vision of a timeless symbol making the deity shine brightly like a real Star, worthy of her title ‘Queen of the Night’.

Curator’s highlight detail: ➞ The chosen colour palette of the background: silver, blue yellow, gold, red, orange, & black reflects the seven characteristic colours of the Sumerian Temples of ancient Mesopotamia, Yannis Papayannis’ favorite chromatic motif.

Yannis Papayannis (b.1962)
Untitled (1/3)
oil, gold and silver on canvas
2014
55 x 40 cm. (each)
(3)
from the series The Queen of the Night

Yannis Papayannis, based in the UK, is a prominent Hellenic contemporary artist employing, mostly, practices of gestural abstraction.

Nelly Fili
Archaeologist-Art Historian|Museologist|Curator
MA Museum and Gallery Management
nellyfili@n-art.org
www.n-art.org